1. Week 6: Groups and Teams (10/17) Professor Payal Sharma
MANAGEMENT 101
Week 6: Groups and Teams (10/17)
Professor Payal Sharma

2. Class Agenda Lecture: Team versus work group
Hackman model of team effectiveness
Team workflow
Knowledge Task de-brief
Video: NASCAR
Article: B Players
Takeaways
Next Time

3. Next Time Week 7 (10/24): Conflict and Coordination For lecture:
Article: Take the Stress Out
Midterm Exam Review: Bring questions
For recitation:
Team meetings with TAs: Progress reports
Reminder: Simulation purchase by Friday 10/28

5. Outputs
Goal attainment: How well the organization meets its objectives
Resource utilization: How well the organization makes use of available resources
Adaptability: Whether the organization is capable of changing and adapting to environmental changes

6. Team versus Work Group Team Shared leadership roles
Individual and mutual accountability
Specific team purpose that the team itself delivers
Collective work products
Encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings
Measures performance directly by assessing collective work products
Discusses, decides and does real work together
Work Group
Strong, clearly focused leader
Individual accountability
The group’s purpose is the same as the broader organizational mission
Individual work products
Runs efficient meetings
Measures its effectiveness indirectly by its influence on others (such as financial performance of the business)
Discusses, decides and delegates

7. Team Effectiveness
Managing external dynamics of the team – that is, navigating the organizational environment and managing relationships with those on whom the team is interdependent
Managing internal dynamics of the team itself – that is, specifying the task, selecting members, and facilitating team processes
Tasks + people + processes = teamwork

8. A Real Team Component Examples A real team
Who is the authority figure and how much autonomy or responsibility does the team have?
Is there an interdependent task?
Does the team have stable membership?

9. Research Findings
Self-managing work teams (SMWTs) first devised by social scientists from the Tavistock Institute in London
Defined as a group of interdependent individuals who have accepted responsibility for a group task and share this responsibility by monitoring and controlling members’ contributions (Glassop, 2002)
Benefits of teams include: reduced need for managers; lower levels of absenteeism and turnover
However, teams are not always needed… Depends on type of task and degree of interdependence or the degree to which:
completion of a given task requires that other tasks are completed
given task is required to be completed in order for another task to be completed;
individual performing the given task is required to interact with others in order to complete the task.

10. Team Workflow Types
Pooled interdependence: when group members work independently and then combine their work (i.e., sum of each individual’s contribution or parts)
Almost “blind,” indirect interdependence. Teams less needed here…
Issues, or weak performance, in one “piece of the pie” could lead to issues overall in team output

11. Workflow (cont’d)
2. Sequential interdependence: classic assembly line or division of labor such that each member has a particular skill or task to perform
When one unit in the overall process produces an output necessary for the performance by the next unit; that is, dependency on others for inputs (one direction)
Demands coordination due to specific order. Essential for efficient operations
Are teams needed? E.g., will workers move around/help

12. Workflow (cont’d)
3. Reciprocal interdependence: highest for of interdependence such that every member is dependent on others at all levels
Similar to sequential interdependence in that the output of one team member becomes the input of another, with the addition of being cyclical (exchange of inputs and outputs)
Highest intensity of interaction. Also most complex and difficult to manage of interdependence types
A person changing the rules can affect everyone else at any time

13. Video: Sport Science explores the science of a NASCAR pit crew

14. Discussion Questions
Is the video demonstrating a work group or a team? Why or why not?
What type of task interdependence is evident in NASCAR? Justify your answer by explaining the chosen interdependence type in your own words and providing illustrative examples from the video.
Would you want to work in this setting? Why or why not?

15. Compelling Direction Component Examples Compelling direction
Does the team have direction about its performance and goals? This can energize, focus and engage team members.

16. Enabling Structure Component Examples Enabling structure
Is the work design of the team motivating?
What are the norms in the team for (un)acceptable behavior?
How is the team comprised? Homogeneity is mistakenly assumed to be best!

17. Research Findings
Research by Adam Grant and colleagues (2011) drawing on dominance complementarity theory
Extraverted leadership enhances group performance when employees are passive, this effect reverses when employees are proactive because extraverted leaders are less receptive to proactivity
In Study 1, pizza stores with leaders rated high (low) in extraversion achieved higher profits when employees were passive (proactive)
Study 2 constructively replicates these findings in the laboratory: passive (proactive) groups achieved higher performance when leaders acted high (low) in extraversion.

18. Article: B Players
What are the major differences characterizing A versus B players? In what way(s) are they the same?
Why are B players undervalued by organizations and teams? Relatedly, how might this article challenge misconceptions or stereotypes about building the best team?
Do you see yourself as an A or B player? Why? Offer two (2) examples from prior team experiences you have had to justify your answer.

19. Supportive Context Component Examples Supportive context
Does the reward system reward the team? (and not individuals)
Does the team have access to reports, data and other helpful information?
Is training available to help the team develop skills towards goal accomplishment?

20. Expert Coaching Component Examples Expert coaching
Is coaching available to help members by providing feedback, answering questions, and asking team members how they are doing?

21. Takeaways
Organizations and managers are well-served to understand when work groups versus teams are the right “fit” for the work at hand
The five components of the Hackman model work in tandem in order for a team to be effective, hence organizations and managers can support their teams by leveraging the model as a diagnostic tool for team performance
Teams require members with different backgrounds, skill sets and personalities to be effective, and again can reflect “fit” such as with regard to power struggles in the team